PMID- 12535158
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20030326
LR  - 20190922
IS  - 0953-8194 (Print)
IS  - 0953-8194 (Linking)
VI  - 15
IP  - 2
DP  - 2003 Feb
TI  - Photoperiodic and temporal influences on chemosensory induction of brain fos 
      expression in female prairie voles.
PG  - 161-72
AB  - Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) typically stop breeding during winter. Male 
      prairie voles respond to winter day lengths with gonadal regression, whereas 
      female voles are relatively unresponsive to photoperiod. Unlike commonly studied 
      laboratory rodents, female prairie voles do not exhibit spontaneous oestrous 
      cycles. Instead, females are induced into oestrus by chemosensory cues from 
      conspecific male urine. The present study investigated the interaction among day 
      length, chemosensory cues and the initial brain responses during oestrus 
      induction in female voles. A single drop of male conspecific urine, saline or 
      skimmed milk was applied to the nares of female prairie voles housed for 9 weeks 
      in either long (LD 16 : 8 h) or short (LD 8 : 16 h) days. Animals were killed 
      0.5, 1, 2 or 24 h after chemosensory treatment and their brains were processed 
      for Fos immunocytochemistry. Body mass and ovarian fat pad mass were higher, but 
      uterine and ovarian mass were lower, in short-day compared to long-day females. 
      Regardless of photoperiod, Fos- immunoreactivity increased in the granule layer 
      of the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), the supraoptic nucleus and bed nucleus of 
      the stria terminalis (BNST) (anterior medial) in females treated with male urine 
      compared to the two control groups. Fos staining intensified in the AOB, medial 
      and posterocortical medial amygdala and BNST (posterior ventral), 1 h and 2 h 
      after urine treatment. In the medial preoptic area, anterior and lateral 
      hypothalamus, and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, Fos-immunoreactivity 
      was elevated in females 2 h after receiving urine. Overall, long-day females 
      displayed higher Fos expression in response to urine than females maintained in 
      short days. These results identify a putative neural circuitry of oestrus 
      induction in this species, and provide an approximate time line of activation in 
      the brain circuit responsible for oestrus induction in prairie voles.
FAU - Hairston, J E
AU  - Hairston JE
AD  - Department of Psychology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
FAU - Ball, G F
AU  - Ball GF
FAU - Nelson, R J
AU  - Nelson RJ
LA  - eng
GR  - MH 57535/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
PL  - United States
TA  - J Neuroendocrinol
JT  - Journal of neuroendocrinology
JID - 8913461
RN  - 0 (Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos)
SB  - IM
MH  - Amygdala/chemistry/metabolism
MH  - Animals
MH  - Arvicolinae/*physiology
MH  - Body Weight
MH  - Estrus/physiology
MH  - Female
MH  - Hypothalamus/chemistry/metabolism
MH  - Immunohistochemistry
MH  - Olfactory Bulb/chemistry/*metabolism
MH  - Photoperiod
MH  - Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos/analysis/*biosynthesis
MH  - *Seasons
MH  - Septal Nuclei/chemistry/metabolism
MH  - Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology
MH  - Vomeronasal Organ/chemistry/metabolism
EDAT- 2003/01/22 04:00
MHDA- 2003/03/27 05:00
CRDT- 2003/01/22 04:00
PHST- 2003/01/22 04:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2003/03/27 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2003/01/22 04:00 [entrez]
AID - 963 [pii]
AID - 10.1046/j.1365-2826.2003.00963.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Neuroendocrinol. 2003 Feb;15(2):161-72. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2826.2003.00963.x.